Jesus continued His teaching in parables. In these parables He didn’t explain to the disciples what they meant as He did with the previous parables.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and plants in his fields. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches. …The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.” – Matt. 13:31-33.
Jesus compared the mustard seed as the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus planted the seed of the gospel and some people believed. The seed is so powerful that as time passes it influences more and more people to believe and spreads over the whole earth. The mustard seed becomes the largest tree in the garden. The birds who come to perch in the tree represent evil. These are those who are counterfeit Christians, take advantage of true Christians, and hinder the gospel.
The yeast is like the Kingdom of Heaven which influences the world. The flour represents the world. Yeast is powerful and a little bit goes a long way and influences the whole batch of flour. It grows slowly, but we cannot see it happening. In the same way when people become Christians, they slowly affect society in a good way. These two parables seem to have the same meaning. Both parables prophesy the tremendous expansion of the Kingdom of Heaven to come.
Principle: Counterfeit Christians hinder the gospel, but God’s Word gives real Christians the power to spread the gospel over the whole earth.
Matthew 13:44-46 – T he Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl
Here Jesus tells two more parables about the kingdom of heaven, but does not explain them. There are two ways to look at these:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” – Matt. 13:44. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” – Matt. 13:45.
The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant finding a hidden treasure or a merchant seeking beautiful pearls. We can look at it as the believer is the merchant and Jesus is the believer’s treasure or a pearl. To have Him we must give up everything to follow Him. Another way to look at it is: Jesus as the merchant and He sees the believer as a treasure, the pearl so valuable that He happily gives everything even His life to have us forever. What a great feeling to know we are His treasure just as He is ours. He loves us and gave up everything for us. Thank you, Jesus!
Principle: Believers are treasures to Jesus just as He is ours.
Are you His treasure?
What specific
treasure has God given you?
How faithful are you
in sharing your treasure of Jesus with others?
How does your life
show He died for you?
Matthew 13:47-52 – The Parable of the Net
This parable prophesies the judgment to come. "Once again the Kingdom of God is like a net ..." - Matt. 13:47. The net is the Word of God. The good fish are true believers. The bad fish are unbelievers and counterfeit Christians. The fishermen are angels. At the end of the age there are two outcomes for the two types. These are similar to the Parable of the Weeds. When Jesus returns the angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous. The righteous will be with Jesus in heaven and the wicked will be thrown into the fiery furnace.
Principle: At judgment the wicked be separated from the righteous.
What is your responsibility to Jesus' repeated warning?
Matthew 13:53-58 – The Rejection
After Jesus finished the parables, He went to His home town. There He preached in the synagogue and the people were amazed at His wisdom, but instead of accepting Him as the Son of God they took offense and rejected Him. "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?" - Matt. 13:55. Rejection of Him continues even today. Jesus didn’t do any miracles in His hometown, because the people had no faith in Him and would not have listened or believed anyway. He did not waste His time.
Have you ever tried
to be a witness to someone and they wouldn’t listen?
How do you respond to
God's Word? Every time you read the Word you are
responding to Him in some way. If you
resist His Word, you are resisting Him.
If you received His Word, you are receiving Him.
All these parables in chapter 13 are prophetic and relate to the God's kingdom, which is the church all through the ages. They show the different reactions to the preaching of the gospel; they tell of the expansion of the kingdom of God to come; they reveal there are counterfeit Christians in the church; they tell us that we are the Lord's treasure and how important we are to Him; they tell of the judgment to come with the separation of the wicked from the righteous.
Principle: One who believes and serves God is often rejected by family and others.
Join me here next week as we continue our study of Matthew -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
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